FLY is an innovative programme designed by a team of experts at the Competitiveness Mindset Institute, Princeton, New Jersey for the youth of India to internalise, practice and inculcate the big five non-cognitive (soft) skills which empower them to become effective leaders in any of their pursuits.

The engineering students of Gujarat had an opportunity to get the essential wings of leadership skills through the Finding the Leader in You (FLY) programme at their institute doorsteps. Mrs Avantika Singh Aulakh (IAS), Commissioner of Technical Education, Government of Gujarat inaugurated the event at the institute. About 80 heads of engineering colleges from different parts of Gujarat attended the programme in order to take it forward for their students and help them reach their maximum potential.

“It is very important to develop each of these components to deliver the technical expertise effectively. If we inculcate these in us individually and as a society, we will be able to progress as a nation”, added Mrs Singh.

Mrs Singh congratulated the FLY course team and Mr Harsh Bhargava, chief mentor of the programme, for putting it together for students. The inaugural address by the chief guest was followed by interesting presentations and activities by the key facilitators of the FLY programme, who gave a glimpse of the programme designed for students. Mr Harsh Bhargava gave an overview of the process that went behind developing this programme and the importance of competitive skills. Mr Uday Nadkarni elaborated on the benefits of the programme for students, the step-by-step programme implementation and the teaching methodology. He also emphasised the need for conscientiousness for long-term benefits to an individual.

Mrs Aruna Bhargava made the participants do a warm-up exercise and then continued to explain the norm-setting under the programme which introduces the students to the global best practices including active listening, being receptive to others’ ideas, punctuality and the importance of speaking up, among others. Later, she also explained the component of problem-solving by emphasising the need to find the real problem and being part of the solution. Mr Amrish Garg introduced the participants with the ideas of innovativeness and perseverance and how it can be learnt.

Looking at the five essential components of non-cognitive (soft) skills, namely conscientiousness, perseverance, innovativeness, taking initiative and problem-solving, the FLY programme is relevant not only for the engineering students but for every professional today. These are the attributes which determine how successful you are in your field.

Mrs Avantika Singh Aulakh

Commissioner of Technical Education (IAS), Government of Gujarat

The participating heads of engineering colleges of Gujarat welcomed the concept and methodology of FLY programme and showed interest in conducting the same for their students. Dr Chandresh Vithalani, principal, Government Engineering College, Rajkot described the programme as very useful for students. He said, “These skills are important not only for leaders but for future engineers as well. We look forward to inviting the course facilitators to conduct the programme in our college.”

Chitralekha Nahar, principal, Saffrony Institute of Technology, Mehsana (a state-funded institute) said, “We have been working in our college on identifying different skills people will need in future. This programme will inculcate those skills in students and help us take our efforts forward. I also propose to design one such programme for faculty as well.”

“The programme is absolutely good. The demand of the today’s time is, engineers must also have soft skills to be able to excel in the result-oriented work environment with increasing teamwork. This is an ongoing process and must be practiced every day to inculcate them in our lifestyle”, said Shweta Dave of Government Engineering College, Gandhinagar.